IKEA Allegedly Used Cuban Prison Labor to Make Furniture

BERLIN, GERMANY - DECEMBER 13: An employee takes out a parcel from a storage rack during a store opening at the fourth Ikea chain store in Berlin Lichtenberg on December 13, 2010 in Berlin, Germany. Ikea, a Swedish furniture and household goods company now has 46th chain stores in Germany, including the newly opened one in Berlin Lichtenberg, which is the biggest one in Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
(2010 Getty Images)

Swedish home furnishing giant IKEA is under fire after a German newspaper revealed allegations that the company used Cuban prison labor in the 1980s to manufacture its products.

“This is what happens when the interest of big business and the dictatorship are on the same page,” said Omar López, the human rights director of the Cuban American National Foundation. “Cuba is a good place to make business because they have a labor force with no rights at all.”

IKEA already faces allegations that it used former communist East German prisoners to make its furniture. The company said that it has already started its own inquiry into the matter and is interested in viewing the Stasi files for evidence as well as for comparison with its own records.

“The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung article refers to events that supposedly took place around 25 years ago and we will immediately look deeper into this as part of the ongoing investigation in GDR, as well as Cuba,” An IKEA statement said. “We are now accelerating this investigation and have also taken in external expertise. Before the investigation is complete, we will not speculate on the outcome.”